Pneumatic controller



s. B. T. WORDEN. PNEUMATIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, I917.

Paten ted June 22, 1920.

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I I aumw toz jfanley B .T Worden,

mtg/Ma a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STANLEY BYRNE TURNER WORDEN, OF SYRACIISE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO F. R. HENSHAW, TRUSTEE, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

PNEUMATIC CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1920.

Application filed June 7, 1917. Serial No. 173,334.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY B. T. Won- DEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Pneumatic Controller, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a sensitive efficient device by means of which the flow of air in pneumatic apparatus, such as automatic, player mechanisms, may be accurately controlled with relation to the main pressure-producing means, whereby portions of the apparatus, such, for instance, as the power pneumatics of the sounding mechanisms may be controlled so as to vary the intensity of the produced sound, or the pneumatic motor of the sheet driving mechanism may be controlled so' as to vary the tempo of the musical production of the in strument.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention, in the form in which it'may be introduced into a pneumatic line, other portions of the sound-producing instrument being purposely omitted because details of such mechanism may be widely varied without in any way affecting the operation of my present device. Figure 1 is a section of my controlling device in the axial plane of the main controlling valve; Fig. 2 1s a section on line 2, 2 of Fig. 1.

I have illustrated my device in a form designed for use in conjunction with a common pressure-producing device of the vacuum type; i. 6., where pressure less than atmosphere pressure is attained by an eX- hausting bellows or other similar exhausting mechanism.

In the drawings, 10 indicates the main chamber of my device, said chamber having an inlet passage 11 and an exhaust passage 12. Passage 12 communicates through a chamber 12 or otherwise to suitable exhausting mechanism, not shown, while passage 11 is connected'to the pneumatic chamber in which pressure isto be varied by the manipulation of my device. This may be the main exhaust chamber of an ordinary sheet driving pneumatic motor, where' the device is designed to control the tempo or speed of the apparatus, or may be connected to one or more of the pneumatic chambers of the sound-producing power pneumatics where my device is intendedto be used in determining the intensity of sound production.

At the point where passage 11 enters chamber 10, I arrange an annular valve seat 13. Mounted in chamber 10 so as to cooperate with valve seat 13, is a valve 14 which may be conveniently made of a small block of wood faced with a leather or other suitable face 15. Valve 14 is axially chambored, as indicated at 16, and the inner end of this chamber is a segment of a sphere, so as to receive a rounded button 17 which is carried by the inner end of a tube 18 pro jected into chamber 16. Button 17 is retained within chamber 16 by means of a ring 19 carried by valve 14 and overlying chamber 16. Projected into tube 18 is a pin 20 which is considerably smaller than the bore of tube 18 so as to permit a considerable freedom of lateral motion. Ring 19 engages button 17 so that there is practically no axial movement between tube 18 and valve 14, although valve 14 may swing freely upon the button so as to accommodate itself readily to a seat upon the valve seat 13. Surrounding pin 20 and tube 18 is a light compression spring 21 which, at one end, engages valve 14 and at the other end engages pin 20 so as to normally hold valve 14 against seat 13. Pin 20 is projected through a sleeve 22 (which is projected through one wall of chamber 10 and into the interior of a leaf pneumatic 23 so as to engage the movable leaf 24 thereof. The interior of pneumatic 23 communicates with chamber 10 preferably through. a bleed passage 25, although this bleed connection may be established if desired through the sleeve 22. Leaf 24' is perforated at 30 with a perforation which is of greater capacity than the bleed passage 25 and at the outer end of this perforation 30 is a perforated disk or plate 31 which forms a valve seat capable of receiving more or less intimately a plate 32 carried by a pneumatic 33 which may be extended by pressure introduced by any suitable means through tube 34, from a hand-controlled bulb 35, or otherwise to more or less intimately associate the plate 32 with plate 31 no matter what the position of leaf 24 may be.

In other words, the effect upon any pneu I matic apparatus connected to the passage 11 is, of course, dependent upon the vacuum which is produced in the passage 11. The

maximum pressure which. may be produced in this passage by suction exerted through passage 12, is attained when valve 14 is in the position shown in the drawings and as this valve is moved toward its seat, it will decrease the effect, in passage 11, of any given sub-atmospheric condition in chamber 10 and, as leai 24: is moved farther and farther upward, ailter valve M- has been brought to seat l3, the pro sure of spring 21 upon the valve, tending to resist its opening, will further and further reduce the possibility of flow of air from passage 11 into the sub-atmosphere oi? chamber 10.

The operation is as iolloa' llnder no mal conditions, valve let is (l a from seat 13 although held up by spring 21 so as to be projected to some extent on pin 20. T'Then suction is applied to passage 12 and the pressure in chamber 10 thereby reduced, a certain maximum pressure will be est ,7. lished in passage 11. During this operation, leat 521i remains extended because iu flow through passage 30 is greater than outflow through bleed passgo 25. it plate 32 be extended into more intimate contact with plate 31, the inflow of air through passage 30 will be correspondingly diminished and, therefore, the negative pressure in chamber 10 will be established to some extent in the interior of pneumatic 23, thus drawing leai 24 up to a position where it will occupy, with relation to a retained position of plate 32, a relation in which the inflow throgh passage 30 will equal the outflow through the bleed passage 25, thereby projecting pin 20 upwardly with relation to valve 14-. and thus increase the pressure of spring 21 upon valve 14 so that a decreased ei'l'ect upon said valve 14L will be had and thus decrease the effect in passage 11 and the parts communicating therewith.

It will be seen that by causing plate 32 to Follow leaf 2a in its upward movenient, any desired projection ot pin 2t), up to its limit of movement, may be had, and ronsequen tly any desired additional increase oi the strength of spring 2i upon valve 141; obtained. This increased efliect of the spring is produced by the pneumatic action upon leaf 24;, however, and does not require any material force applied to plate 32, the force acting on that plate being merely suflicient to bring it up into proper intimate association with leaf Qt in whatever position that leaf is desired to be maintained.

By the installation of this simple apparatus in the pneumatic line, it is apparent that the negative pressure maintained in any chamber to which the passage 1.1 leads, may be readily and accurately controlled.

If the chamber to which passage 11 loads is the wind chest of a pneumatic sheet motor, the speed of the motor will he redured as the pressure of spring 21 is increased. If

passage 11 leads to the main clunnber of aseries of 1 neumatirs in a pneumatic action of souml-producing mechanism, it is apparent that, as the pressure of spring 21 is increased, the efl'ect of the exhausting mechanism upon the wind chamber is correspondingly reduced, and, therefore, the force of the pneumatic action upon the sound-producing mechanism is correspondingly reduced.

I claim as my invention:

1. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, a valve arranged to yield.- ably cooperate with one of said passages, a pneumatic under the influence oil? the pres sure determined. by said valve, means controlled by said pneumatic for variably a1- fecting the force of cooperation of the valve with the controlled passage, and means for controlling the position which the pneumatic will take under the influence oil its connection with the valve-determined pressure, said means con'iprising a member movable to various positions in coaction with an inlet leakage opening to the interior of the pneumatic.

2. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, a valve arranged to yieldably cooperate with one of said passages and yieldable in the direction of air-flow independent of its adjusting means, apneumatic under the influence of the pressure determined by said valve, and means controlled by said pneumatic for variably affooting the force of cooperation of the valve with the controlled passage.

3. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, a valve arranged to yieldably cooperate with one of said passages and yieldablc in the direction o'l air-flow independent of its adjusting means, a pneumatic under the influence of the pressure determined by said valve, means controlled by said pneumatic for variably ailecting the force of cooperation of the valve with the controlled passage, and means for controlling the position which the pneumatic will take under the influence of its connection with the valve-determined pressure without varying the resistance of the pneumatic.

4. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, an inwardly-opening valve mounted in said chamber to yieldably cooperate with the inlet passage, a pneumatic under the influence of the pressure in the valve chamber, means controlled by said pneumatic for variably affecting the force of cooperation of said valve with the inlet passage, and means for controlling the position which the pneumatic will take under the influence of the valve-chamber, said means comprising a member movable to various positions in coaction with an inlet leakage opening to the interior of the pneumatic.

5. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an, outlet passage, an inwardly opening valve mounted in said chamber to yieldably cooperate with the inlet passage and yieldable in the direction of air-flow independent of its adjusting means, a pneumatic under the influence of the valve chamber, means controlled by said pneumatic for variably afiecting the force of cooperation of said valve with the inlet passage and means for controlling the position which the pneumatic will take under the influence of the valve-chamber.

6. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, an inwardly opening valve mounted in said chamber to yieldably cooperate with the inlet passage and yieldable toward the chamber independent of its adjusting means, a pneumatic under the in fluence of the valve chamber, and means controlled by said pneumatic. for variably aflecting the force of cooperation of said valve with the inlet passage.

7. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, an inwardly opening valve mounted in said chamber to' cooperate with the inlet passage, a pneumatic having a bleed-passage communicating with the valve chamber, a spring acting on the valve in a closing direction, means controlled by the pneumatic for varying the pressure of said spring on the valve, and means for controlling the position which the pneumatic will take under the influence of the valve chamber, said means comprising a member movable to various positions in coaction with an inlet leakage opening to the interior of the pneumatic.

8. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage an inwardly opening valve mounted in said chamber to cooperate with the inlet passage, a pneumatic having a bleed-passage communicating with the valve chamber, a spring acting on the valve in a closing direction, means controlled by the pneumatic for varying the pressure of said spring on the valve, and means coacting with the bleed passage at successive positions for controlling the position which the pneumatic will take under the influence of the valve chamber.

9. A pressure controller comprising a valve chamber having an inlet passage and an outlet passage, an inwardly opening valve mounted in said chamber to cooperate with the inlet passage, a pneumatic having a bleed-passage communicating with the valve chamber, a spring acting on the valve in a closing direction, and means controlled by the pneumatic for varying the pressure of said spring on the valve.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Syracuse, New York, this sev- 

